“I have two goals for this system: one, ensure that it never again becomes a threat to my people, and two, give everyone here the chance to become ‘my people’ with all the benefits and responsibilities that entails. I have engineering teams inspecting every inch of this station right now, and they’ve already made a frighteningly long punch list of repairs and upgrades that need to happen. When they finish their assessment, we’ll step back and look at the situation to see whether we should fix this station or build a new one, and no matter which path we choose, the work will be done at no cost to the people of Baldur.”
The woman leaned back against her seat and crossed her arms, still giving Cole a moderate glare. “So, you’re not going to raise our taxes any?”
“Taxes?” Cole asked.
“Yeah,” the woman said. “That lizard taxed us into oblivion. The first time a person didn’t pay, his enforcers would deliver a beating, and the person’s taxes would go up. The second time, a worse beating and another hike…since the person was a repeat trouble-maker, you see. The third time, well, they’d just kill you and take everything you and your family owned; you’d be lucky if your whole clan didn’t go dancing with the stars.”
Cole blinked. “Yeah…that’s going to end. I have all of Qeecir’s financial records, so my people and I will go through them and figure out something. I’m not going to make any promises about Qeecir’s finances, but I’ll be sure to keep everyone apprised of what gets decided. Now, as for the taxes…I don’t tax my citizens; I use the sales tax model, based on a tiered system of goods classification, and I’d like to think our classifications make pretty good sense. The feedback I’ve received from my citizens in Beta Magellan lead me to believe it’s a very fair and balanced system, and I’ll be implementing it here once we get everything settled.”
“You mean your soldiers won’t come to our homes every month demanding half our income?” another person at the table asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Cole shifted his attention to the young man, and Cole’s heart went out to him when he visibly suppressed a flinch. “He took half your monthly income? Seriously?”
The young man’s entire demeanor conveyed the impression of a small prey animal ready to bolt, but he jerked a nod without meeting Cole’s eyes.
“Damn…that’s just wrong. Okay. Pass this on to your fellow residents. I don’t know what I’ll find in his financial accounts, but whatever is there, I’ll divide evenly between the residents of the station.”
The woman who’d been the speaker for the group gave Cole another glare. “I suppose that includes the slaves, too?”
Cole shook his head. “No. I’ll take care of the slaves out of my own funds. I see them as being kind of a special case, anyway, and we have procedures and an infrastructure in place to help them get on their feet after being captive.”
“And what do you expect from us for all your generosity?”
“Live your lives, and I’d like for anyone who wants to stay to help me turn Baldur into a place we can all be proud of. Ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent of Beta Magellan’s citizens are former refugees; most are from the former Commonwealth. Each and every one of us knows what it’s like to be in a bad situation with no good options for relief. I’d like the residents of the station to become citizens, people who have a stake in the welfare of the system and want to have that stake.”
“And just what do you take away from all this, then? If you’re not taxing us to death and not claiming any of our people for your own…what’s your margin? What’s your angle?”
Cole sighed. “I know what it’s like to lose everything; I have stood on the street where I grew up, surrounded by blackened husks that used to be my neighbors’ homes, and I have helped carry the bodies of my parents and grandparents to graves that I myself helped dig. What’s my angle? Lady…‘my angle,’ as you put it, is doing everything I can to ensure something like that never happens again as far as my authority and influence reach.
“I want to create a place of safety and hope, where people can go about their daily lives doing what they want to do with no fear of tyrants or criminals, or of government trying to be one or the other. It’s a lot of work, and anyone who ever said it would be easy is a liar and a fool. But it’s the goal I’ve chosen to make my life’s work, and I welcome anyone who wants to help me achieve it.
“Now…if I may, I suggest you gather the residents of the station or converse with them however you do so; pass on what I’ve said along with the new laws for the station I’ve published on StationNet. I’ll see to it the new tax laws are up there sooner rather than later, too. We’ll be here a while until we settle on a plan for the station, so take some time and figure out who wants to be a part of what I want to build here. When you’re ready to talk again, somebody here at the command post will be able to find me. Thank you for coming, and if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”
Cole nodded once and stood, leaving the conference room.
Chapter Sixteen
Cole’s Day-Cabin, Battle-Carrier Haven
Baldur’s Gate, Baldur System
30 August 3003, 13:23 GST
“Well, well,” Scarlett said, her voice almost a purr. “I’ve finally managed to get inside your…quarters. I suppose that’s progress of a sort.”
Cole chuckled and shook his head. “You’re incorrigible…you know that, right?”
Scarlett gave Cole a half-smile accented with a suggestive wink. “A girl has to maintain her focus and reputation, dearie.”
Cole sighed. “So…I have a job offer for you.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“I want you to be the System and Station Administrator here,” Cole said, “and I want the person in charge of the mining system to report to you as well. You know, we’re going to have to think of a better name for that than ‘mining system.’ I already have Sev working up construction crews; he’s thinking he’ll have the system defenses in place in about a year, since he doesn’t need to crash-build a station…yet…and that’s for both systems. After that, I want to investigate the possibility of replacing this station with something better and building a station to replace that refinery in the mining system.”
“How about Midas?” Scarlett asked.
Cole blinked. “Midas? I don’t follow.”
“The name for the mining system,” Scarlett answered. “How about Midas?”
“Yeah…that would work,” Cole replied. “That would work really well. One second…” Accessing his implant, Cole made a note to record the system’s name in the Registry as ‘Midas.’ “Okay. So, are you interested in the job?”
Scarlett nodded. “Dearie, I’m happy to do whatever you ask.” Then, she smiled; it was almost a predatory smile that carried hints of humor and mirth.
Cole grinned. “You just don’t give up, do you?”
“I’ll make you a promise: I’ll give up on the day you say, ‘I do.’”
“And just to whom must I say that?”
Scarlett shrugged. “I think that’s still a bit undetermined, so I’ve adopted a ‘wait and see’ attitude. I’m sure it won’t be nearly as fun or interesting as what I’d like to see, though.” Scarlett added a wink that said more than her words.
Cole felt his face heat, and Scarlett threw back her head and laughed.
“Gotcha, dearie,” she said. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been trying to get you to blush? Oh…it doesn’t invalidate anything I just said, of course, but it’s a victory all the same.”
Cole sighed.
“You know,” Scarlett said after a few moments of silence, “you never did show me that plan you mentioned coming into Baldur’s Gate. I suppose it’s a moot point now, but I must say…you sure know how to keep a girl in suspense.”
“Oh, yeah…that plan,” Cole replied. “Uhm…well…I had decided I was just going to walk in there and shoot him. But we started talking; one thing led to another, and you sorted out the situation f
or me.”
“You? Really?” Scarlett almost gaped at Cole. “Do you mean to tell me that the White Knight of Beta Magellan was going to commit cold-blooded murder?”
Cole held Scarlett’s gaze for several seconds before he said, “Scarlett, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my people. If that means having a trade treaty with Tristan’s Gate, I’ll do that. If that means going to war with the Coalition, I’ll do that. And if it means burning down a crime lord who never cared about anyone but himself…well…yes, I’ll do that, too.”
Cole scheduled a meeting with the residents of the station and announced that Scarlett O’Donnell would be taking over direct authority in the system in his stead. There was some unease at the change-over, but Scarlett stepped forward and explained that Cole couldn’t stay in Baldur for any length of time, having responsibilities in Beta Magellan that he must discharge. Cole was pleased to see how well Scarlett handled the situation and decided he’d made the right decision in naming her as Administrator. Following the meeting, Scarlett walked with Cole to the shuttle bay, where Cole promised a civics team from Paol’s side of the house would arrive soon.
With Baldur and Midas secured, Cole returned to Haven, and the battlegroup set course for Beta Magellan.
Citadel Station
Beta Magellan
2 September 3003, 08:17 GST
Cole worked his way through reports on the progress made in Beta Magellan while he’d been in Baldur. For some reason unknown to Cole, his people had chosen to stockpile the reports, instead of sending them to him through the quantum comms network. Cole was about a third of the way through the digital ‘stack.’
“Cole?” the speakers broadcast Srexx’s voice.
Smiling at the blessed interruption, Cole leaned back in his seat, replying, “Yeah, buddy?”
“I have been working my way through the data from the computers aboard the ships in Trask’s fleet, and I have reached a number of conclusions I would like to present. How should I schedule a presentation and request specific attendees?”
Cole grinned. “Well, you could send each of your attendees a message inviting them to the presentation and giving a brief reason you feel the presentation is needed.”
“Interesting,” Srexx responded. “Is that how you do it?”
“Honestly, no. I tend to call the meetings and tell everyone when they should be there. While I aim to be very polite and considerate in doing so, I don’t beat around the bush about it, either.”
“Would you please schedule a meeting for me?” Srexx asked. “I am…uncertain…the people I request to attend will do so just to hear my conclusions.”
“Okay,” Cole replied. “Give me an overview of your conclusions, without duplicating the presentation you want to make.”
“People around you—and you yourself—continue to refer to the Commonwealth or former Commonwealth or Provisional Parliament. The data obtained from Trask’s computers suggest to me that doing so is erroneous for multiple reasons, the most significant of which being that the Provisional Parliament has been reduced to a figurehead at best. None of the computers contained specific coordinates as to the Coalition’s capital, but the data I have consumed leads to the inescapable conclusion that our neighbor is the Coalition and not any remnant of the Aurelian Commonwealth.” Srexx paused for a moment. “Cole, the classified communications lead me to conclude that the Coalition is moving into a phase of military expansion; my evaluation is that they will move against an unaligned star system within the next month, and if their first military expansion is successful, I evaluate there is a significant probability they will not stop with their first conquest.”
Cole sighed. “Yeah, that’s important information. I’ve never known your analyses to be completely and totally wrong. All right. I’ll call a meeting for you to present your findings.”
“Thank you, Cole.”
The passage of a few hours found Cole arriving in the bridge briefing room. He was the first, but the other attendees were on the way. Srexx requested that Paol, Painter, Sev, Sasha, Yeleth, Red, Harlon, Sato, Emily, Garrett, and Mazzi each attend. That seemed a slightly odd list to Cole, but he trusted his friend.
The others arrived in short order and, once seated, looked to Cole.
“Srexx,” Cole said, “we’re all here.”
“Thank you for attending,” Srexx replied. “I have spent the past few weeks examining the data downloaded from the ships in Admiral Trask’s task force, and I reached the conclusion that you should be aware of my evaluations.”
A holographic star chart appeared, hovering in the space over the conference table. It showed a region centered on Beta Magellan out to a radius of about one thousand light-years. It didn’t escape Cole that Beta Magellan and those systems it controlled were highlighted in blue. Neutral or independent systems were colored white, and unclaimed systems were not colored at all. Srexx had chosen red to represent Coalition space, and red blobs marked the star chart much like a child had flicked a brush with red paint at the hologram. The largest blob was the former Commonwealth. The other blobs represented what once were the independent polities of the Carnelian Bloc, Sirius Imperium, and Eridani Corporation.
“As you can see from the star chart, the Coalition controls an impressive amount of space, and with the combination of their respective fleets, the Coalition now fields the largest navy known to exist,” Srexx said. “For the next few minutes, I shall endeavor to explain and prove why using the phrase ‘the former Commonwealth’ is inaccurate and perhaps leads to a willful ignorance of what is happening within Coalition space. For now, I shall refrain from bombarding you with the evidence that led me to my conclusions, but if you should want to evaluate those conclusions, I’m happy to provide all the evidence.”
Srexx paused for a moment, and the star chart zoomed in on what once had been the Aurelian Commonwealth. At the very fringe of the star chart, the lower-left of the hologram, one could see some blue from where Beta Magellan ‘bordered’ the territory.
“Over the past eight months, the Coalition authorities have implemented martial law in all their systems, even those outside of this area. Anyone who questions the government or those implementing its directives is imprisoned; consequently, the prison and construction industries are booming, but those are the only facets of the economy experiencing a boom. At the third instance of questioning the government or local authorities, the so-called offender is executed, and the authorities make no distinction between adults and children when it comes to their supposed criminal offenses.
“The Coalition does not have complete supremacy across many of the systems in this view, but while the local populations fight with all they have, they are losing ground. The Coalition’s central command anticipates a complete victory across all these systems within another fourteen months. Based on the data I have seen, I calculate that conclusion is erroneous; I predict the Coalition will eradicate all resistance in these contested systems within eight to ten months.
“The Coalition has implemented a massive draft across all its systems, pressing all able-bodied people into military service. Along with this, I have data indicating a massive up-swing in the construction of ships, troop transports, and their associated support vessels. This has led me to conclude that the Coalition is preparing for a massive military offensive. They are already driving back the Duchy of Musilar and the Rigellian Alliance in their pre-existing war, and I posit that they will move against an unaligned system within the next month. I further calculate that the Coalition will move against Tristan’s Gate within the next eight to fourteen months and either the Ghrexels or the Igthons within five to seven years. I evaluate that pitting Humans against Ghrexels or Igthons is not wise and a waste of material, but if my calculations are correct, perhaps they know something I do not.”
“Srexx, no offense,” Harlon said, “but how accurate is your data? Have you considered the possibility that the information you’re basing these conclusions on is false?�
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“I have indeed accounted for that possibility, Colonel Hanson,” Srexx replied. “I found communications in Trask’s computers that did not match the information contained in the classified archives. These communications were not classified at all and carried headers indicating they were for public distribution. If I had based my conclusion on those communications alone, I would not consider the situation to be as dire as I have evaluated it is.”
“Srexx, would you mind copying me on everything you evaluated for these conclusions?” Garrett asked. “I’d like for me and my people to conduct an independent analysis to confirm your findings.”
“Of course, Garrett,” Srexx replied. “I find myself gladdened that you wish to conduct such an analysis. I would welcome the conclusion that I have misinterpreted something from a lack of understanding about Humans.”
Garrett chuckled. “I’d like to think you have, but I don’t think our conclusions will vary that much from yours…except maybe on the numbers side. Our math probably won’t have your level of precision.”
Just then, the speakers chirped and broadcast Jenkins’s voice, “Bridge to Cole.”
“Go ahead, Jenkins,” Cole replied.
“Cap, we just received a flash message from Captain Vasquez on Babylon Station. A freighter just arrived loaded to the gunwales with refugees; they report that they fled Caernarvon after a massive Coalition fleet entered the system and engaged the SRN task force there. It was almost a Pyrrhic victory, but the Coalition now claims the system. Vasquez says the freighter’s navigation and sensor logs corroborate their story.”
“Thanks, Jenkins. Cole out.”
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